We all want answers, right? The reason those late-night infomercials are so popular is because everyone wants a fix. Just give us the simple steps, the quick fix, the how-to process. That’s how we’re conditioned; answers make us feel secure. Whenever we encounter a situation that’s uncomfortable for us, we try so hard to figure out how to get through it. Not having a resolution is threatening to us.
Consider for a moment that your need to know is what limits you. There’s a big difference between searching for a solution (for example, rushing the process) and living from a state of inquiry and curiosity. Just getting answers is easy. We can go to the Internet and find whatever we need, and the mind likes that. The problem is that we usually stop there. Tell us how to fix it, and then we’re done.
We start to get comfortable with not knowing when we remove the idea that there’s something wrong with it. We rush to get to conclusions because we’re programmed to view uncertainty as a problem. Yet, an artist doesn’t view a blank canvas as a crisis; she sees limitless creative possibility in it. Raw possibility is something we can feel. It’s actually kind of cool when we can experience it in that way, rather than it being something to panic about. Huge opportunities are lost when we rush to fill this fertile, empty space.
